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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Letmebe Frank who wrote (7136)	12/18/2003 12:26:53 PM
From: VAUGHN	Respond to of 7235

Hello Frank This out yesterday A.M.: Message 19610084 Regards Vaughn P.S. Whoops, sorry, I see dara posted it already. My apologies.

To: Letmebe Frank who wrote (7136)	1/8/2004 10:07:53 PM
From: russwinter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7235

SouthernEra says Messina safe from rand onslaught Reuters, 01.08.04, 7:59 PM ET By Nicole Mordant VANCOUVER, British Columbia , Jan 8 (Reuters) - SouthernEra Resources Ltd. <SUF.TO> said on Thursday its flagship Messina platinum project in South Africa would not face the same fate as its nearby Klipspringer diamond mine, where operations were halted last month as a stubbornly firm rand wiped out profits. Patrick Evans, SouthernEra's Chief Executive, said the diamond grades at Klipspringer, located in South Africa's northern Limpopo province, had always made it a marginal mine that needed a rand/dollar exchange rate of 8.50 to be viable. "Messina is completely different. The margins at Messina are quite robust. Even at current rand levels, Messina still has a margin of more than $100 an ounce," Evans told Reuters. The rand, one of the world's best performing currencies in 2003, was trading at 6.56 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. The South African unit surged 40 percent against the dollar in 2002 and 28 percent last year, hiking costs miners pay in the mineral-rich country. Margins suffered as revenues, earned in dollars, fell. Evans said the build-up of production at Messina was on track to reach 120,000 tonnes of ore per month by the end of the second quarter. He said Messina is this year expected to produce 160,000 ounces of platinum group metals (PGMs), out of which 55,000 ounces would be platinum alone. Platinum and palladium are the best-known metals in the PGM group. Platinum output at Messina is anticipated to rise to 85,000 ounces in 2005 out of total PGM production of 200,000 ounces. Messina also produces large quantities of nickel. The Toronto-based company, which is also listed on London's AIM market, said it would reopen the Klipspringer diamond mine if the rand weakened enough. "We have no intention of selling it...It's a nice and large mine and produces 100 percent gem quality diamonds," Evans said of the venture in which SouthernEra has a 50 percent stake and is partnered by De Beers and a black empowerment group. In a bid to keep the underground diamond mine operating, SouthernEra asked the South African government last year to allow it to mine continuously instead of the standard 5.5 days a week with no mining on Sundays. The government has not responded to the request.